the girl who obsessively loves everything.

Tag: e-books

Well, I think I’ve finally put a finger on why I’m feeling so stressed out lately! Regardless of how excited I am for Fall (and Halloween, of course), I haven’t been able to shake this feeling like I’m never going to accomplish everything I want to by the end of the year. It’s been really discouraging, but I’ve realized it’s just because I’m too damn ambitious.

I read a quote the other day that was along the lines of “having too much freedom and too many options leads to procrastination” and I think that completely sums up my entire life perfectly. So. I’m going to try and cut back on my expectations of myself and work towards smaller goals – with the help of my trusty Passion Planner, obviously – and just make things more manageable for myself until I have developed better habits. All that’s a post for another day, though.

Today, I’m going to start small and share my To Be Read (TBR) list for Fall/Winter 2015. I’m under no delusions that I will actually get through all of these books in the next three months, but I’m already on track to make a pretty big dent (assuming I don’t hit a book slump after finishing Queen of Shadows for the 2nd time…eek!).

I went back & forth on whether I wanted to share these by genre or by the order I have tentatively assigned to them, and I think I’m going with my random order, so we can see how many I end up skipping by the end of the year. Because *that* won’t be discouraging to look back on (sarcasm sarcasm sarcasm).

Aditionally, I’ve got the following graphic novels that I’d like to finish before the end of the year:

Sex Criminals vol. 1

Wicked + Divine vol. 2

Hawkeye vol. 1

Saga vol. 5

Halloween Eve

So needless to say, I’ve got an overly ambitious reading list for the season, and that’s only one aspect of my life I’ve been planning out. There is physically no possible way to get everything done that is on my to-do list, and I think that’s really got me frozen in place and feeling stuck. I’m sure someone out there can relate. I hope someone out there can relate…

In the end, I think it’s a matter of recognizing that it’s not the end of the world, and it’s definitely not something to be ashamed about if I don’t get around to everything. I mean, I’ve already surpassed the number of books I read in 2014. Right now I’m sitting at 33 books read this year, plus a ton of comics that I haven’t even counted towards my goal. I’d say I’m doing alright. And I need to look at things from this perspective more often. I also need to prioritize all of my 2015 goals to determine which ones I want to focus on for the next 3 months. It’s a work in progress, you guys… but aren’t we all? 🙂

Starting a book club was a bad idea.

I mean, it was a great idea & has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my entire life, but… it was also a BAD idea. For my bank account. Because books. I can’t stop buying books.

As I was taking these pictures the other day, I thought to myself, “you know, it doesn’t really seem like all that many, does it?”…and then I looked at my Kindle purchases. Ah. Yes. Therein lies the problem.

So, without further ado (and to avoid feeling the need to justify myself to the internet), I give you my summer book haul, June-August 2015.

Oooooh pretty 🙂

This is essentially my whole TBR pile right now. I honestly didn’t own many unread books before this whole book club thing…you guys are the worst best, if you’re reading this.

*Note how I listed no reasons for purchasing the graphic novels? That’s because I don’t need a reason. I just want them ❤

You may recognize this photo from my Book Square Challenge post on Tumblr or Instagram. I figured why not kill 2 birds with one stone? These are the covers from the Enchanted Collection Box Set, which I purchased on Amazon Prime Day for like $17. It was basically the only good sale that day, I’m fairly certain.

And, of course, the illustrious Harry Potter box set. Basically my prized possession right now, if we’re being completely honest. Remember when I got this set for $40 over 4th of July weekend? *Happy sigh*

Now for the scary part…the e-books. I have even less restraint when it comes to Kindle deals, if you can believe it.

AND there you have it. A total of 59 books purchased or received as gifts since June 1. Not sure if I should be proud of that or ashamed of my lack of self control? Ah, well. I’ve got books to take my mind off of this terrible moral dilemma!

Back to the reading chair!

I’d love to hear your thoughts if you have read any of these books! I’ve only read a few of them, so far!

I sign up for a lot of email newsletters. Things I think I’m going to read & look for deals every single day – Target, Ulta, Sephora, Threadless, Old Navy, the list goes on. Really, what ends up happening is I delete every single one of these until I decide I’m going to shop somewhere & then I retrieve it from my trash box on Gmail to see if there’s a coupon. It’s kind of annoying & not exactly efficient, but oh well. I’ll figure out a better system one of these days. That’s not the point.

My POINT is, that there is ONE of these email newsletters that I look forward to every. single. day. and I have opened every email from this sender for the last 6 months. Who’s the mystery emailer?

Have you heard of it? Because if you love books & you have a kindle or a tablet with the kindle reading app, you need this newsletter in your life. If you have heard of it you’re probably like “yeah, Christa, I know. Old news.”

So, what happens is you sign up & they send you a daily email with featured book deals on Amazon – usually around 4 free books, a few for $.99-$2.99 & one or two that are simply reduced in price from the regular cost. It’s not always full of gems, but there have been SO many books that were already on my reading list & Amazon reduced the price to under $2.99, so I snatched them up. I never would have known about the price drop if not for the newsletter, and my Kindle library wouldn’t be pushing 300 after just 2 years of kindle ownership.

It’s also a great way to discover new authors or series you might be interested in – I know a lot of times I’ll pick up the free books just because what do I have to lose? And they’ll turn out awesome, so I’ll find something else by the same author or the next book in the series. I mean really – if a book synopsis even SORT OF grabs your attention & the book is free, why WOULDN’T you just claim that shit?

So, if you fall into the category of book lover + Kindle (or tablet) owner, give it a shot! Make sure you set your newsletter settings to a daily email, otherwise it gets kind of annoying with two per day.

ALSO, for the Nook lovers, there’s BookBub, which is another daily newsletter service. They track Barnes & Noble deals as well as Amazon, Apple, Google, & Kobo. It sounds like it would be a better service altogether, but I still prefer PixelofInk for Kindle books. I find BookBub to be pretty hit-or-miss with their featured titles.

What say you? Give it a shot?

Until Next Time ❤

*PS – I have not spoken to anyone at PixelofInk or BookBub & am not being compensated in any way for this post. Just sharing my opinions & thought I’d spread the word since I have been able to make such great use of both services! 🙂

#introductions

Hi! I'm Christa & I'm obsessed with pretty much everything. I love learning about new things & geeking out over life. I dream of vampires & unicorns. I have a storm trooper tattoo and a reading list that will last me the rest of my life. Also, I can't stop buying makeup. Let's be friends!